1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a medical instrument having an instrument body with an outer surface. A non-contact readable data carrier is embedded in a recess of the instrument body.
2. Related Prior Art
Such a medical instrument is disclosed in DE-A-197 23 442. A medical instrument, namely an endoscope is described having a registering device arranged in its interior, which measures environmental parameters, such as temperature, pressure, humidity, radiation or shock or impact loads to which the endoscope is subjected. In one embodiment, a transmitter is integrated into the endoscope in addition to the registering device. With the transmitter it is possible to send the data in the registering device to an antenna located outside of the endoscope. The registering device therefore represents a non-contact readable data carrier.
In the mentioned embodiment, the registering device is held in pass-fit manner in a recess within the eyepiece of the endoscope. The recess is formed in the instrument body of the endoscope. The registering device is seated firmly in the recess and therefore in direct contact with the instrument body.
Practical experiments have now shown that such an arrangement of the data carrier within a medical instrument has drawbacks. This is especially the case when the data carrier includes sensitive electronic components. Examples include electronic memories or integrated circuits for transmission and/or reception by which the data can be transferred in non-contact manner. Such electronic components respond sensitively to thermal and also mechanical loads and can be easily damaged by such loads. Thermal loads however frequently arise in practical use of such a medical instrument. A particular example is the sterilisation of the medical instrument after each use, which normally takes place under very high temperatures and pressures. Moreover, a medical instrument is often subject to mechanical loads such as a bending load, namely through manipulation during an operation.
The known arrangement of DE-A-197 23 442 provides the data carrier, as mentioned, directly connected with the instrument body of the medical instrument. Consequently, thermal and mechanical loads on the instrument body are transferred to the data carrier practically without attenuation. A sensitive component within the data carrier can easily be damaged.
A further drawback of the known arrangement results from the fact that numerous medical instruments are made of special medical steel. The steel and other electrically conductive materials are however practically impermeable to electromagnetic waves. As a consequence, a data carrier arranged within the medical instrument is difficult to read out using electromagnetic transmission means and this only in conjunction with additional means. Thus the access to the data carrier and in particular reading out the data carrier is hampered.
Finally, a further disadvantage of the known medical instrument results from its production. The carrier must be secured in or on the medical instrument such that it does not loosen in the course of actual use. This is achieved in DE-A-197 23 442 by embedding the data carrier in the mentioned recess in a pass-fit. The assembly in this manner is however comparatively complicated.
A medical control system for controlling operation units is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,560. The operation units are medical instruments. According to the reference, a control system accesses the individual medical instruments with the aid of an identification code. Thus each medical instrument possesses a unit in which an identification code can be stored. No disclosure however is given as to how these storage units, which also correspond to data carriers, are arranged in or on the medical instruments.
Thus the object of the present invention is to embed a data carrier in a medical instrument such that it will withstand mechanical and thermal loads.